The Tale of Allurance
by FlowerGirl15
Summary: A long fight, a horrifying discovery, and the realization about truth and reality has left Allura and Lance shaken. They thought they were free from the bonds that kept them restrained, and they believed that their greatest enemy known had died, but when the Altean awoke from her coma, they knew they had thought wrong. Voltron must neutralize the threat, and Lance must help Allura.
1. Chapter 1

The crazy look in his eyes tore her apart as she began to realize who she had fallen for. There was no more pupil or even iris in his eyes: it was pure yellow with insanity. Just five minutes ago, not even, those perfect eyes had closed as they locked lips. It had been her first kiss, and never before had she felt this feeling of utmost love. He had run his purple-hand through her white body of flowy hair. She had melted into that kiss, feeling as if maybe life had hope.

But that was five minutes ago before she learned the truth. That was before she truly understood the man she had fallen in love with. That was before she discovered how he had murdered thousands of her people, the ones she didn't even know survived. And he had no regret. His wicked scheming father had truly influenced him, and it rubbed off from his witch-mother.

"Sure, a few lives were lost, but they saved countless more!" He had argued, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. As the pieces had clicked in her mind, all she knew was that he had lied. That was unforgivable. That was unbelievable. It was despicable.

She flipped him over her shoulder, not caring if she had broken his face or even if she killed him. Tears threatened to fall as she stared at him, his eyes glistening in pain and heartbreak.

 _I trusted you!_ She thought. _I may have even loved you._

But that was all lost as he stood up and ran away, taking all her hopes with him as he returned to his natural state:

 _Evil._

Allura:

I woke up, my face sweating and eyes darting around scared. I looked in every cranny I could, just to make sure _he_ wasn't there.

Lotor.

I had trusted him. I had believed in him. I may have quite possibly loved him.

But he killed thousands of my people, the noble Alteans, presumed dead after our planet was destroyed. He murdered them, stealing their life energy piece by piece until there was nothing left when they lost all sense of everything and lost their right to life. He tricked them into thinking they were serving him, their mighty savior, in the best way possible.

But he lied.

And lied.

And lied.

I looked at my clock, groaning when seeing the time was only 3 dobashes past midnight. This was the second time in three nights I had woken up, terrified, broken, crying.

My planet was destroyed. My father was killed. My people were slaughtered. And the man I trusted most lied. How much more could I take? I was the Princess of a planet that didn't exist any longer. I was the pilot of a lion my father created. Day by day, the only reason I kept going was the hope I could save the universe, against the people just like Lotor.

I got up, yawning, and took a stroll down into the kitchen. We had defeated Sendak once and for all in a battle for my fellow Paladins' home planet. It had been a tough fight, and many lives were lost, but we saved them, and united other peoples with the Earthlings. Three weeks ago today we had discovered the Altean hooked into the pieces of the Komar. We had all sat down, having a meeting discussing variables that could be in play. It could have been Sendak, who in the wake of his death, wanted to make sure the mighty Voltron fell once and for all. It could have also been Haggar, who was always after the Paladins and wanted to avenge her son. Commander Holt had even suggested it could have been other Galra forces who stole Haggar's prized robot and sent it after the Paladins. It even supported the theory that all the Alteans were stolen, as Kolivan reported when his troops returned from the colony.

But one option hadn't been discussed, because everyone knew it was the worst theory, and the scariest, and the deadliest.

I had seen those tubes before that the Altean was hooked into. I knew where they originated, and that was why I was so scared.

 _Lotor._

But I stopped my thought train there, going downstairs into the kitchen to see what food Earth had in store. Or drinks. Or anything to distract me from these traumatizing memories.

"Get it together Allura!" I told myself as I opened the door and walked to the refrigerator. "He can't hurt you anymore. He died in the quintessence field, and there's no way those nightmares are real…"

Lance:

Yeah. I get it. I'm the blue Paladin of Voltron. I'm supposed to be this heroic savior of the universe. I'm supposed to be this role model who gets all the girls.

But, instead, I'm sitting on the floor in the kitchen, eating cool whip from the jar.

I can't be perfect. I just can't be. The only reason I made it into the Garrison was the fact my entire family had argued until they let me in. The only reason I had become fighter-class was Keith's "behavior problems". The only reason I was piloting the Red Lion now was that I was in the wrong place at the right time. I'm not the amazing, heroic, beautiful person I proclaim myself to be, and recently that had taken a toll on myself.

So here I am, rebelling and eating away my frustrations at my stupidity and unworthiness when I hear the kitchen door open and someone walks in.

MAJOR EARTH POLICY: DON'T GET CAUGHT IN THE KITCHEN AFTER LIGHTS-OUT.

I held my breath, hoping whoever this was wouldn't see me and tell the leaders. I paused, mid-scoop, as the person opened the fridge and started talking to themselves.

"Get it together, Alura!" She mumbled as she looked for something. I held my breath and looked over the counter-top, peering at her. "He can't hurt you anymore. He died in the quintessence field, and there's no way those nightmares…"

"You've been having nightmares?" I couldn't keep myself from asking as I jumped and stared at her. Allura jumped a foot in the air and stared at me for a moment.

"Lance!" She gasped and tucked her long, white lock of glorious hair behind her ear. "I wasn't expecting to see you here! See, I read this story…" She stopped mid-excuse and stared at the jar of cool whip in my arms still. "You're eating the last jar of cool-whip?"

I awkwardly put it on the counter and shrugged, not wanting to answer. Allura looked at it curiously, seems to have an internal debate about something until at last, she spoke.

"Can I have some?" She whispered. I motioned for her to come to sit on the floor by me. She walked over and sat down, grabbing a spoon and pulling up a huge glob of beauty. She stuffed it in her face and moaned, savoring every second of it. I suppressed a laugh as I grabbed some too, trying to put it in my mouth when she reached down and grabbed more, accidentally brushing the side of my hand.

Now, I could never admit this out loud, but when she brushed the side of my hand, I immediately turned red and missed my mouth completely, smothering my cheek in white foamy deliciousness.

Allura took one look at me and laughed, her smooth and silky laugh resonating in my ears. It may have only lasted a second, but she locked eyes with me, and it felt like a year before she spoke again.

"Why are you down here?" She inquired.

I immediately drooped and looked down at my useless feet as I replied, "I don't wanna talk about it."

Then I remembered what she said earlier. "Have you been having nightmares recently?" I asked.

She looked down at her lap as she replied quietly, "yeah."

I moved closer to her, massaging her shoulder as I said, "talk to me Allura. What's been going on?"

She looked up at me a few seconds later, her eyes glistening in tears.

"I can't believe how stupid I was to trust _him._ " She whispered, reaching over and putting her face in my shoulder. Her tears fell as she sobbed. Gingerly, I wrapped my arm around her, holding her close.

"He's dead now, Princess," I reassured her as she squeezed me. "Lotor died in the quintessence field, and he can't return to hurt you any longer."

"But he can!" She sobbed loudly. "I saw those tubes the Altean was connected to. They looked exactly like the ones he used to suck the life out of my people. She was even hooked in the same way." Her tears stained my blue shirt darker, and they soaked it in sadness, but I rubbed her back softly, trying to reassure her.

"That could have been a coincidence. It could have been Sendak, or Haggar, or even one of Lotor's guards that borrowed his machines. It wasn't Lotor, Allura. He's dead. You don't have to worry any longer." I rested my head on top of hers, thinking about how much this must have been plaguing her to force her to have these wicked nightmares. I slowly raised my hand and felt her hair, feeling every silky strand and every white lock.

She looked up at me, whipping her nose with her pink sleeve.

"Thanks, Lance," she whispered.

I smiled at her, a sad smile of worry, care, and love.

"You're welcome Allura," I replied, holding up the can of cool-whip. "Come on, let's finish this thing."

Allura:

An hour later, I lay in bed, trying to understand what had just happened. I had gone downstairs, and like a true idiot, got caught by none other than Lance McClain, the man who had recently begun to worm his way more and more into my head. I had broken down, sobbing in his shoulder _again_ , only to feel comforted and truly better. We had finished the jar of cool-whip, which was, by far, my favorite Earth-food so far, and he had walked me back to my room, saying goodnight and telling me to not feed these nightmares, or he'd have to watch me to make sure I never had them again.

All because of those nightmares, the ones my subconscious kept feeding on. It was as if a monster lay beneath my consciousness, feeding on every thought and every dream, until it found the perfect one to wake up to, stretch its claws, and growl. My mind even obeyed it, forcing me to replay its favorite memories, the ones that slowly destroyed who I was, the Princess of Altea. It squealed with glee every time I broke down further and further until soon, there was nothing left for me to heal from.

I tried to focus on what I was grateful for instead. I had so, so many things to be grateful for. First, I had my friends, the Paladins of Voltron. We had Lance, and Pidge, and Hunk and Keith and Shiro… all so kind and supportive. I had Coran, who has stuck with me since before I was able to understand any of the nonsense he went on and on about. We also had Romelle, who made her way back, and the second other Altean we knew about. Oh, and I had my blue Lion! I loved Blue. She was so amazing… and our castle!

The dreariness slipped back into my mind as I banished the thought of the Castle from my mind. We had lost it, given it up to repair the tears in space and time from Lotor.

I thought more about what I had. I had all my fellow peoples of the Voltron Commision. I had the Blades of Marmora. Oh, and all those Alteans!...

I had to stop another thought train that seemed to connect with Lotor.

I had all the hope in the universe. We could do this! We could take down the Galra Empire! We could save the universe!

All this self-despair seemed to come back with everything I tried. Why did everything have to connect to Lotor? Why did everything come back to him? It seemed no matter what I did, I would always be traumatized and taunted by the jerk…

"Princess Allura!" Someone's voice called from my phone. Finally distracted, I picked up the phone gifted to me from the Garrison fighters.

"Hello? It's me." I answered, pulling it to my ear.

"We have news that requires you and the Voltron Commission immediately."

I held my hand over the phone, wondering about what it was until I answered.

"May I request to know what has happened first?" I asked.

"The Altean has awoken."

 _A/N In Memorial to Voltron s8, the finale, I will write one last fanfiction for my one of my favorite fandoms_


	2. Chapter 2

( **A/N I can't. Voltron s8 comes out in 13 days. Its not allowed. Voltron is not allowed to end. Well anyway, while y'all read this ima just be over here silently dying PAINFULLY)**

She hadn't known. It wasn't her fault she had fallen for the lies. After all that time they spent together, after all those bonding moments and all those times she had questioned his loyalty. She had truly thought, that maybe, there was one good person of that race. She had believed that he was truly out for peace for the entire universe. And he sold the lie well. He hid any nagging thoughts that told him he was doing wrong and even had her thinking he was genuine. That cunning man had won her heart, and just when she thought she could trust him, he broke it and left her feeling she was useless. So when his truth broke out, she knew she had been tricked, and she was going to make him pay.

Allura's POV:

Twenty dobashes later, I had run downstairs, dressed in my Garrison outfit, all geared up and ready. I was the third one down there, along with Pidge and Lance. They were dressed in Garrison orange outfits. We were all standing around the meeting table, where Commander Holt was standing, waiting. He was talking to Pidge, who was going on about some scientific discovery she accomplished with the Green Lion. He was laughing and making conversation.

Lance looked over at me, his eyes filled with worry. "Hey," he said gingerly.

I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear nervously. "Hi," I said.

"Any more nightmares?" He asked, moving closer. For once, I hadn't had any nightmares about my losses, about my family, my planet, or even Lotor.

"Glad to say none, for once," I added with a laugh. Lance smiled and watched me for another moment before turning away.

"Lance, Pidge, Allura, Hunk, and… where's Keith?" Shiro looked around, his eyes watching over everyone as he counted off Paladins on his fingers.

"Oh, I can answer that." Hunk stepped forward, taking a bite of his famous bacon-and-cheese quiche. "He immediately went straight to the Altean, checking to make sure this wasn't a hologram or some Galra technological advancement that was controlling the poor Altean from some remote location."

"Yea. If they were to do that, they'd need such far radio connections that could control brain waves from inside an untrackable secret base that the Blades hadn't already found and blown up…" Pidge thought out loud.

"Which was impossible, Keith said, but he was going to check anyway." Hunk took another bite of his slice, offering some to Pidge. She shook her head.

"Well, thanks for that _intellectual statement of learning_ , but we need to get a move on downstairs." Shiro turned to Commander Holt, who stepped forward. "Anything we need to know, Commander Holt?"

Pidge's father shook his head. "Other than to be on guard and bracing yourself for any type of attack, we should be good."

We all marched downstairs, and my mind wandered as we walked. Could it be Lotor? No, it couldn't be. He died. Sendak's doing? Well, he died months ago. Haggar? No one had heard from her, so the logical option had been her. I even considered the rebel Galra forces who were after the Paladins personally, all those little leaders from the Kral Zera who were still angry.

But my mind always came back to Lotor.

He would forever haunt me, wouldn't he?

Anyway, we got downstairs, waited a few moments behind the door, and opened it, to see Keith already standing by the wide-eyed Altean. He looked over and stepped away, his eyes downcast. The Altean was strapped to the chair, her arms thrashing and trying to move. Coran was waiting behind her, trying to calm her down.

"There there, calm down little fella," He soothed. I smiled. Coran had always had a way with children and younger folks.

"I'm a girl!" The Altean responded. She looked over at her new company, scanning the faces until she reached mine.

"Princess Allura?" She whispered in fear. "Is it really you?"

I smiled and did a quick bow. "It is I," I responded.

Lance's POV:

The Altean is actually awake. It's been weeks since we found her, and she just woke up. Time after time we discussed where we thought they were coming from, their motives, and everything about who sent them (we weren't sure whether it was a male or female but no one could/wanted to check). And now, she is sitting here, waiting for interrogation. She looks so much like Coran its not even funny. He's staring at her weirdly like he knows her but can't put his finger on it. She recognized Allura right away. I guess the Alteans somehow got word of our operation on this side of the universe.

"It is I," Allura said after a quick bow. Her untied flowing hair reached down to her waist, even lower if I was going to actually measure. I was more busy trying to remember what our plan was for interrogation. Being a classic Lance, I had fallen asleep during the meeting with my eyes open and pretended to pay attention while I suffered from another horrifying dream where I couldn't save my friends and they failed to win the fight with the Galra, leaving me alone with everyone's floating dead bodies and the knowledge that it was my fault…

Not the time Lance.

"Hey, can you tell us at all who put you in the Komar?" Coran asked gently, pausing beside her little containment chair.

The Altean looked at him fearfully for a moment before responding.

"For years our Altean colony lived and prospered, away from the problems of the universe, safe from any harm, with only our savior Lotor knowing of us." The Altean started, staring off into the distance until suddenly they caught sight of Romelle.

"Hey, I know you!" She said, appearing to try to point to Romelle. "Were you that one girl who's entire family was taken by Lotor and always sat on the hills alone?"

Romelle's hands started to squeeze really tightly, but she let go and breathed deeply.

"Sadly, that was me." She sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't remember you."

"You wouldn't," The new Altean said, seeming to sit straighter. "I was only a little girl when you disappeared. Then the Galra guards appeared who normally followed Lotor around and told us we were in danger. They said, "someone's coming to hurt you." They said, "if we don't leave, everyone left will be killed." So we followed, thinking Lotor already had a plan because he was essentially our king. We were each led in a cell as our planet was evacuated, and I was in our family cell, with my mother and father. The ship took off and we all fell asleep, still set on the sleep patterns of our planet. When we awoke, the guards came and took all the adult males, needing them to come and vote on our plan." She stopped speaking, looked down at the ground, and a tear fell down her cheek. "Nobody saw them for weeks, so one day, when we were finally allowed out for a meal, I sneaked around all the guards and entered the chamber where Father went. But what I saw was not my Father, or a meeting, or even morally correct.

"They were in their seats, all hooked up to a bunch of machines. Each machine seemed to have a glowing substance thing inside, and when I looked at all the people, they had these lifeless expressions that instantly told me they weren't with us any longer. Logically, I knew my Father was dead, but emotionally, I ran to check for him, feeling my eyes burn with tears and my cheeks turn wet with tears. I looked at every body, recalling Marella's Father from down the street, or Mr. Vadel, my old teacher. But I couldn't find him… until I had finally thought I was done."

She started crying, tears running down her face. Keith looked over awkwardly, like the emo kid he totally was, as Coran and Romelle rushed to help her. Romelle started speaking to her quietly. The Altean wiped her nose as Allura began to speak.

"What happened next?" She asked slow and evenly.

"Well, I found him all right and started crying a lot. He had been a famous Altean person, at least in our little town. They called him Sir Alston, but I only knew him as Father. He called me his little Gabrielle, which means "God's strongest woman". He always thought I would grow up to join my aunt Antoinette on Lotor's planet, so he named me Gabrielle. I knew that everyone would be sad over the loss of his life before I realized that every male above the young age was killed here. Well, I knew it had happened, but it hadn't quite clicked.

"So just when I started to get up to find Mother, a Galra guard grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth with his hand. I tried to scream but he choked me and told me if I didn't keep quiet he would hurt my family and he would kill me. So I obeyed, quietly following him through the halls until we stopped outside a door.

"He told me, 'you better keep quiet and let me do the talking.' He said, 'your mother would be very disappointed in you if you disobeyed your elders.' And of course, I knew that was exactly how my mother would respond, so I kept quiet and was shoved inside the door. Inside there was a witch with a black hood and purple evil magic stuff all around her. There was a giant robot off to the side, all cued up as if it was about to be filled. The Galra guard behind me pointed his gun at me and said he had found an Altean worthy to be fit for the honor of fighting. The witch, in her growly, low, evil voice, said she was pleased and would exact her magic on me. I tried to run but she pulled me back somehow with this electric zappy power and put a spell on me, knocking me unconscious and unaware of my movement until I woke up here."

Gabrielle looked at Allura, her face filled with wonder. "Lotor once mentioned he had found the Voltron commision, and he had found the long-lost Princess. We had all gasped in wonder and hoped to meet her."

Allura walked over and gave her a hug. "Well, now you've found me."

I'm a Paladin of Voltron. I fight day after day defeating the greatest enemy ever known. I have actually died and been revived before, yet I can't stop my heart from exploding with love for Allura and all her amazingness.

Allura walked back by me, standing awkwardly. She was fidgeting and taking deep breaths. I reached over and put my hand on hers. She looked up at me and thanked me silently.

Allura's POV

"Aw, it's okay Gabrielle. We've got you now." Coran soothed, holding her hand gently as a grandfather would. Coran was so great with everyone. He had always helped me out when I was a little young Princess. He taught me how to ride our Altean version of human bicycles, he taught me how to behave in public, and he always secretly snuck me Altean cookies under the table. When Father was out and about and there was a dangerous storm, he had been the one to tell me it was really dangerous and I should _never_ touch it. When Mother had had her untimely death, and Father was off on a Voltron mission, Coran had held me close, telling me it was okay, and he would be there for me. He was like a second father to me, and he would always be close to me.

"Has there been any word from my people?" She asked suddenly, shoving Coran off and looking at all of us. "I really want to know how my mother and my sister and my brother are doing… do you think they are okay? I haven't seen them in a year."

Lance and I looked away, coincidentally towards each other because of timing. I heard Keith begin to explain that they had sent a troop of Blades to her planet but hadn't heard anything except her as I looked up and saw Lance staring at me in that way that always made this goofy feeling inside of me arise. I looked into his eyes for a split second and wished I hadn't. It might've only been a split second, but it felt like an eternity. That was the second time I had ever really noticed what a lovely color his eyes were.

I heard Gabrielle sniffle and I returned to the present. Oh, Gabrielle was probably barely 16 decaphoebes old, but here she was, fighting in a war she didn't know anything about.

"Any news about Lotor?" She asked hopefully, maybe clinging to the hope we still knew of his whereabouts.

I opened my mouth to reply but I couldn't, the memories folding back, slowly tearing me apart. Lance spoke for me.

"Lotor… Lotor wasn't the guy you thought he was." Lance said slowly, explaining the story of how Keith had found Romelle, they broke into Lotor's secret evil base, and how we defeated him in the quintessence field. With each new sentence, Gabrielle's face fell and eventually, she asked Lance to stop. I found myself regretting hearing the story again. Each time it reminded me of how stupid I had been. How weak, how vulnerable, and how gullible.

"We should let her be with Coran and Romelle," Pidge said, suggesting a break. "I think she's had all she can handle today," Pidge added with a look at all of us. We said our goodbyes and left, venturing into the kitchen to discuss. But I couldn't stop thinking about Lotor. He might be physically dead, but he had permanently scarred me.


	3. Chapter 3

( **A/N AHHH VOLTRONV s8 COMES OUT FRIDAY I CAN'T EVEN HELPPPPPPPP Also sorry for not posting yesterday I was sick and chose sleep instead of worse health so here ya go!)**

Day by day, it ate her alive. The thought, the knowledge, the pain that she had been fooled, that she had been hoodwinked. Day by day, she internally died, feeling as though she had disappointed everyone, that she hadn't seen the trickery and the manipulative true soul of he.

 _The purple skin, the white hair. The perfect eyes, the smiling lips._

It had all been too perfect. She hadn't seen it coming, at all. She hadn't trusted him for so long, not wanting to disappoint her crew, but she had and had failed miserably. He had truly convinced her he was good, and after so much time in his presence, she had fallen for his fake persona of awesomeness.

 _The perfect nature, the powerful leader status. The dangerous personality, the good leadership skills._

She had let her guard down, and it ended with this crying, broken, angry girl left inside, hurt beyond imagination. So every day she fell asleep, wanting to escape reality, only to be chased by a bloodthirsty maniac of both her nightmares and reality.

Allura's POV:

"Princess Allura!" Coran's voice called me as I had been walking towards my room. "Are you okay?"

I smiled, trying to hide the pain underneath. Gabrielle had revealed that it was Haggar who had put her in the Komar, and that had taken a huge weight off my chest. However, it was still a lot of work to stop this war-villain.

"Hello Coran," I said exhaustively with a yawn. "I'm okay. Why do you ask?"

He stopped running and walked over to me. "When we were questioning Gabrielle you were shaking and I figured that wasn't good news. King Alfor always shook when he was nervous about something, so I guessed it was passed down to you."

I sighed, being exposed. I loved my father so, so much, but that doesn't mean I appreciate every single trait I was given from his side.

"You've caught me," I confessed, looking downward.

Coran stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me protectively. "There, there Princess, I've got you now. I'll always be here in you want to talk to me, you know. I'm Coran the Mechanic, but I was and still am your friend Coran."

How blessed am I to have been saved with of all people, trusty old Coran. He truly was my second father and one of my closest friends. If I ever lost him, I'd be broken.

"Thanks, Coran," I whispered.

I let him hold me a few more seconds because it never happened anymore and honestly I needed help sometimes.

"Anyhoo, I'd best be starting to fix up the Atlas," He let go and wiped the dust off his shoulders as he added, "they don't call me the best Coranic in the galaxy for nothing!" He wandered off in the completely wrong direction before walking backward and sighing.

I laughed quietly and followed the confusing signs into the library. I had never read an Earth book and it was of much interest to me to see how they interpreted things.

When I arrived, I looked for the "space" section in this weird Dewey Decimal System, which made no sense whatsoever to me but I still followed it's commands to the section. As I finally found it, I noticed Pidge and Hunk sitting off to the side, faces burrowed in a book.

"Hey, friends!" I called, to have Pidge look up at me and make a very, VERY loud sound like the wind blowing.

"SHHHHHH!"

Hunk glanced at her and shrugged, gesturing for me to come over as well.

"On Earth, we have to be quiet in the libraries, because humans aren't intelligent and can't focus." He looked at Pidge again and turned back to me, whispering quietly, "and some are very moody,"

"I heard that Hunk!" Pidge said without looking up from her book.

Hunk and I looked at each other self-consciously and giggled quietly.

"What are you three doing?" A very familiar voice called from behind me. I looked back to see Lance walking, smiling and waving until he walked into a bookshelf and collapsed all the books.

"Lance, you idiot, you're FROM this planet, and you've been in a library a THOUSAND TIMES!" Pidge told him angrily, waving her book in his face. "Some of us want to READ in the library and currently Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter are battling, so if you'd EXCUSE ME to finish this book series…" She stomped out of the library without even checking out the book.

Lance looked at me and Hunk guiltily. "What's her deal?"

Hunk shrugged, answering with "it's been too long an increment of time since Pidge has been in her library and it's starting to impact her attitude and tolerance behavior…"

Lance looked at me for a normal explanation.

"She wants to read and she couldn't so she's angry." I clarified, trying not to think about the way his eyes looked…

Wait what?

"Hey, you!" An angry Garrison voice called behind us, pointing towards the bookcase. "You better keep it down and pick up your mess, you lazy cadets!"

Lance and Hunk looked at each other and whispered "run" before bolting top-speed out of the room. I quickly ran with them, winding through the halls trying to lose the angry Garrison official. After a long road of narrow misses and losing Hunk, me and Lance wound up by some chamber with a bunch of boxes next to it.

"I think we lost him!" Lance said breathlessly, his chest heaving in need for air.

"I hope we did!" I said quickly, breathing deeply for oxygen. "I pulled my soleus muscle!"

Lance and I looked at each other and started laughing uncontrollably. He fell over laughing, hitting his head on a box, and I laughed even harder. It's been too long since I laughed this hard, and I've missed it.

I reached out to help him up as he was laughing and holding his injured head. He looked at me strangely and reached out to grab my hand. I was still giggling from the whole running fiasco when he slipped and fell forward.

Lance's POV:

That Garrison official chased us through half the building AND through the underground place. I guess they have an unusual hatred for when people refuse to clean the library, and Paladin status doesn't excuse that. Well anyway, we ran so far that I nearly collapsed, and then it didn't help when I realized we accidentally ran into the ONE section of the Garrison I wasn't allowed to go into. They banned me after the whole issue I got into with the engines and the other cargo pilot cadets… that was a bad day…

Allura and I had collapsed laughing, and I will concede to admit that I may have taken a short, long glance at her face as she laughed, but during that moment my legs just turned to jelly for no apparent reason and I fell/hit my head on the box behind me. She laughed even more and offered to help me up. I tried to hide the blush that wanted to hide and thankfully took her offer, trying to stand up. I stood up, and while doing so looked in her eyes, which made me fall again, which wouldn't have been nearly half as embarrassing if I hadn't fallen forward.

Towards her.

Very close to her.

Like I-was-barely-hovering-above-her-lips close.

So clearly I blushed and tried to look away from her lips, so I looked in her eyes instead.

Allura's POV:

What.

Is.

Happening?

One second I'm laughing my head off and a second later Lance was less than an inch above my face. And I have no idea what happened here but he started blushing and I started blushing and it was a blushfest. And then he looked in my eyes and my stomach did this flippy thingy that I didn't quite understand. Well, at one point I did, and I can't think about that right now, because then I wouldn't be able to stop.

What was happening? I don't know.

Lance's POV:

I couldn't stop staring. I couldn't, no matter what I tried. Out of peripheral vision, I barely noticed Allura blushing faintly too, but I wasn't thinking straight. I never fed into these thoughts I had, these feelings I openly had about her (at least in my head). For once I wasn't thinking about how unworthy I was, how much of a failure I was, and I was thinking about how much I would forever keep the secret of my love for Allura.

I'll admit. I was tempted to fill the space between us. I was _seriously_ tempted to just lean in a tiny bit more and press my lips gently against hers, but I knew she would pull away. I knew she would never reciprocate the love I had for her. Lotor had had her heart, and I knew that I had lost her forever. There was no way she still had a miniscule feeling for him anymore, but she was broken, and I couldn't just step in and try to hurt her more.

And then, out of nowhere, a certain two Paladins walked past, checking out the engine on the broken Atlas, when they turned back and saw us.

Allura's POV:

I seriously thought he was going to lean in. His pose shifted closer ever-so-slightly, and honestly, I wasn't quite sure myself if I WANTED him to. Part of me cringed and kept reminding the happy part of me about the Lotor disaster, but another part screamed: "JUST KISS HIM ALREADY!"

Pidge and Hunk walked in just then, chatting about ideas on how to fix the broken Atlasjet when all of a sudden Pidge turned and she saw us.

Together.

Really, REALLY close to each other.

And all of a sudden Hunk was staring at us too and Pidge was giggling as Lance and I broke apart, standing a reasonable space away from each other and we awkwardly looked everywhere else but at each other. A smile grew across Hunk's face as he started breaking down laughing.

"Oh my gosh, Lance did you finally do it?!" He asked, walking over to Lance and asking him.

"Yeah Lance did you?!" Pidge asked too, bouncing up-and-down with excitement as she squealed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lance responded, his head turned the other direction. I had no idea what they were talking about. I had a feeling I didn't want to.

"Aww, come on! You've _known_ we knew since, like, Lotor, and you can't just not tell us after we caught you with your girlfriend!" Hunk pleaded.

"He's not my boyfriend." I responded.

"She's not my girlfriend," Lance said at the same time as me.

Pidge rolled her eyes and starting wiggling her eyebrows at us.

"It's not like we're going to tell anyone!"

"Pidge! Hunk! Is that you?" Coran's voice called. He appeared from under the broken jet, covered in sweat and oil.

Pidge sighed. "Coming Coran!" She looked back slowly with a smile at Lance and me and ran off giggling with Hunk.

I turned to Lance. "Well that was rather embarrassing."

Lance looked down at his feet. "Sorry. My legs flew out underneath me."

I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine," I said, trying to avoid the inevitable question that seemed to be spoken telepathically between us. "Come on, let's see what we can do to help the others!"

 _He crawled from the hole, exhausted and in pain. Every single body muscle ached from the strain of pulling himself this far, and it had been months, maybe even decaphoebs since he had seen any other alien, human, or even a Paladin. He was ready. They couldn't stop him. Nothing could. He had been blasted with even more power than possible, but that couldn't stop him._

 _He was all-powerful._

 _He was unstoppable._

 _He was…_ Prince Lotor.


	4. Chapter 4

( **A/N Season 8 killed me. I cried for an hour. Not just because the series ended. You guys will see... if you haven't already... hehehe...hehe...he... I CAN'T THINK VOLTRON NOW I STILL HAVE TEARS IN MY EYES)**

He haunted her, in reality, and in dreams. Every night she thought about how foolish she had been to fall for the son of the man who _killed_ her father, _slaughtered_ her race, and _enslaved_ countless others. He had begged to be judged by his actions instead of prejudices, but she had been foolish to trust those words. His actions spoke for themselves. He _harvested_ the remaining people of her race and _stole_ their lives just to satisfy his own ambition. He looked for ways to cover the fact he had indeed made a mistake but did he stop?

No.

He went on to keep enslaving people, and to keep stealing lives. He went on to try and steal even more races and to satisfy only his race. So her prejudices had been right. She had been in the wrong once again.

Why had she trusted him? Why had she given up her truth and listened to his words? It wasn't just she had _liked_ him, it was she was foolish enough to get close to him. She let her team get close to him, and even the least trusting begrudgingly gave in. He had hidden his lies well, and she had never seen through the barrier that protected them. Why had she believed him when he denied attacking her? Why did she open her eyes when if she'd kept them closed she would've seen the faults. He was the bloodthirsty son of an evil emperor, and nothing could conquer his thirst for power, except more. How had she ever seen anything else? She didn't know, but she beat herself up about it every night.

Allura's POV:

So Haggar was at large and was after our heads. Big deal. She was always after us. That entire family was messed up. Zarkon died twice and came back by quintessence. Honerva died and came back a black-magic witchcrafting witch. Lotor was born from a dead woman and was the most despicable person alive.

However, it was a big deal when we factored in we had no information. We didn't know where she was. We didn't know what she had been building for the past four years. We didn't even know if she was still alive. But we did know wherever she was, the Alteans was, and it was my duty as their Princess to save them.

That was a big problem.

Anyway, about three Vargas later, we all emerged from the Atlas jet, covered in oil and sweat. Coran had worked us HARD to fix that jet engine. Pidge stayed behind to monitor math movements and to make sure it would be able to support the weight, and Hunk was screwing pieces together the whole time. Lance had worked at filling the oil gauge, which turned his naturally darker skin tone black as the oil (because it was oil). I, of course, was busy making sure the fire would spew out, which was where we originally thought the problem was. However, upon climbing INSIDE the broken jet, I discovered it was the radiator that had busted, and with Pidge's help finally, we got it fixed in place and the jet started working.

"Phew, good work everybody!" Coran cheered as we all yawned and sighed. Lance tried to shake off some of the oil but just managed to dye the floor black instead of diluted grey.

"I'm gonna go shower and take this all off." He said after another two tries. He walked off, sighing. He accidentally walked into the door at first and, embarrassed, turned the knob and walked out.

"I'm sure Shiro needs help with something, so I'm gonna see. If you Paladins need any help, you can find me!" Coran hopped off, humming an ancient Altean tune. I smiled at the memory of it.

 _We can protect the universe and save the world._

 _We can defend our kingdom and love our neighbors._

 _Us Alteans we stand strong._

 _Together until the end._

It was a classic kid's tune, but apparently, Coran was feeling nostalgic.

"Hey, Princess!" Pidge called as I tried to find my way back to the library. I still hadn't read a book. It was annoying me my journey had been for nothing, but I waited until Pidge caught up.

"So, what did you think about what Gabrielle said earlier?" Pidge asked. I held my breath as I tried to formulate an answer.

"We know that there ARE Alteans left, but from what Gabrielle said, we have no idea where and how to find them," I said carefully, trying to come up with words for what I was feeling. "Plus, we still have to take down Haggar, and that's even more dangerous because she could surprise us any moment _and_ she is still at large. We still have no idea what happened to her since she put Gabrielle in the Komar."

Pidge seemed to ponder what I had said.

"Well," she spoke after a long silence, "I get where you are coming from. We _just_ defeated Sendak and his troops, and we were hoping for a long era of peace, but now our greatest threat still remains and we have zero information on how to find her. You forgot to factor in we can track the ships in space. Gabrielle probably has enough stored in her memories that we can find the ship and locate it. Priority is getting the Alteans back safely because even if we captured Haggar, they could still be hurt or killed by Galra guards." Pidge started pacing before she stopped and turned to me. "Let's call a meeting tonight with all the Voltron crew. We can ask the Garrison leaders if they can join us. I'm sure my dad has some kind of helpful tech that can easily assist us."

I agreed to meet up at 8:25 PM exact. We parted ways and I headed toward the library, finally finding the book I was looking for and started reading before scowling in disgust and leaving. Do humans know anything? There is no such thing as a speed that you can't travel. They seem to have all these ideas about conceivably going so fast you wouldn't age, which is totally unrealistic. And they thought they were the only life force… well, I'm just glad the Paladins were smarter than whichever unintelligent being wrote this book.

So I left and wandered into my room, which wasn't really mine but I felt was sort of mine. I, of course, had it completely organized. Clothes were folded, my Paladin suit was hung on a door, my bed was made, and I had an alarm set for breakfast bright and early. My mother and father always taught me a Princess must rise early. I can remember that day clearly.

"Mommy, it's too early!" I yawned as a four-year-old, pulling my pillow over my head.

My mother, the kind queen she always was, smiled. "A Princess must always rise early so she doesn't miss breakfast."

"But Coran would _never_ miss serving me!" I insisted, pointing outside. "The _first_ sun is still sleeping!"

King Alfor, my father, marched outside in his outfit. He leaned inside my huge room and kissed my mother on the cheek gently. "Hey," he whispered.

My mother laughed. "Help me teach her about why we rise early."

My father seemed to ponder this for a moment before sitting on the edge of my huge bed, which I didn't know was huge at the time but thinking back I know how it was.

"Do you remember that day a few weeks ago when Zarkon had to go fight off a huge monster from Daibaazal?" He asked gently.

I nodded, not sure where he was getting at. I just wanted to sleep for another hour.

"Well, he needed help, so he called me in to go fight for their freedom. If I hadn't been awake at this time, then I would've missed the action and the Galra would've been hurt. We must always rise early so we don't miss the fight, Allura," He told me, leaning towards me to kiss my cheek before getting up to leave. He turned back and smiled. "I'm sure fighting isn't always on your mind, but it is on mine."

Truth was, I loved hearing my father's tales of fighting heroically for planets' independence from evil races or saving them from monsters. I wanted to grow up to be just like him one day, a wise ruler with great knowledge and to be the best-known defender for galaxies. But I wouldn't tell a soul, so I pretended to only care a bit and I started rising earlier than early, just to see if I could get called on a mission.

I smiled, thinking about how cheerful my childhood was. There were no worries of destruction and no fear of enemies. All I cared about was living up to my father's name. I wanted to be the ruler _he_ was of Altea, and now I was stuck trying to save the universe from an evil that was unknown from in whereabouts and in power.

I sighed, putting on my Paladin outfit designed for Garrison use. Walking out my door, I looked to my left to see Hunk and Lance talking.

"You _still_ haven't asked her?" Hunk was saying. Lance looked sheepish and was staring at his feet.

"It hasn't been the right time!" He argued.

" 'hasn't been the right time' my honor! Lance, she's going to run away if you don't ask her! Just get your game together man!" Hunk rustled Lance's hair, making Lance protest before looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Look, go get her!" Hunk shoved Lance towards me, leaving Lance on the floor and me watching confusedly.

Lance turned around and stared at Hunk like he had no idea what to do. Hunk shooed him with his hands and ran behind the wall.

Lance turned to me and stood up quickly, dusting the dust off his shirt.

"Hey, All- Hey Allura!" He said, putting his hand behind his back. "So I know we're having the meeting after this but I had this idea that we should all meet up in the secret cafeteria after this where they won't let us former cadets eat?" He spoke quickly, closing his eyes for a brief second before waiting for my reply.

"Lance?" I asked, looking confused I'm sure. Did he just ask me on a date? No…. no, he wouldn't. Lance was asking _everyone._

"Let me rephrase that," he spoke quickly before taking a deep breath.

"Would you, come with me, after the meeting, to a secret dessert cafeteria?"

Lance's POV:

I held my breath waiting for her response. Oh why, _why_ had I let Hunk bully me into making a fool of myself. Allura would never like me the way I like her. Quiznak, I don't even _like_ her. I haven't for a while. I'm pretty sure I at least _really_ _ **really**_ like her, or maybe even love.

But it seemed to wait forever for Allura's response.

"Sure Lance," she said carefully. I let out my breath.

"Great! So, I don't know, find me outside the meeting room after the meeting and just kinda follow me?" I started to walk away before I could embarrass myself further. "Gotta go, bye!" I ran off, my chest beating quicker than it should have been. Hunk chased me, laughing.

"You did it man!" He cheered, patting me on the back once we stopped. "You got her!"

"She said it to be polite," I mumbled quietly, thinking about her response.

"No! Well, maybe, but she _likes_ you! She'd only go out with you if she did!" Hunk said, turning to the door. "Now come on, I gotta go tell Pidge we scored you a date!"

" _Just wait right here, emperor," The guard said, pointing to the door as he tried to call headquarters. Lotor grabbed his sword, ready to slash the guard's chest in as soon as he returned. He had waited three long decaphoebes to be here. He had waited far too long to exact his revenge on_ everyone _who did him wrong. They had all abused him, destroyed him, shaped him to be who he was. His father had abused him his whole life, telling him he was a failure and murdering everyone Lotor had ever cared about. Lotor would be anyone but his father, and when Allura accused him of being him, it finally snapped inside Lotor, and he went crazy._

 _A few quintents later, Lotor stood inside the room, drinking, absorbing, using the quintessence hidden. He had become solely dependent on it to survive. Voltron might have destroyed his life, but who said he had one in the first place? He was born from a dead Altean, and he was fed quintessence from birth. So what else could he do?_

 _Only one person stood in the way of his ultimate victory, his final reign into power. She might be his dead mother, or she might not be, but Lotor would kill Haggar at all costs._

 _(A/N if you aren't emotionally stable don't watch s8)_


	5. Chapter 5

A promise, she was given.

Promises can't be broken.

A truth, she was promised, was him. He was, according to everyone, the truth. He was _real_. He was the only true one left, she thought. He was the only one who could give her meaning, a home, a family.

Truth was one thing, it was unchangeable, it was unconditional, it was universal.

If he truly was the universal evil-turned-good emperor he made himself to be, then why shouldn't she fall for him? She had trusted him because the truth could be trusted. Truth wouldn't, couldn't, shouldn't change. If he was the mad lover in one situation, then he couldn't try to kill her in the next. No matter where you are in the universe, she had thought, I will love you, because that is the truth, and it is true everywhere.

Universal was he, the true ruler of the empire, and because the truth was universal, his claim to truth that he would purify and save everyone was true universe-wide.

She had dared to dream that the universe-known and savior-of-them-all leader might even care for her, that he might dream about her the way she dreamt about him. When he had leaned just slightly closer, she felt her heart explode with happiness, because she had loved him, and she had thought, at that moment, that he was the truth, the universal-true truth.

A promise, he had told her, that he would never hurt her.

Promises can't be broken.

Allura's POV:

The meeting was useless. We didn't learn anything. All they talked about was everything we _didn't_ know, which was pretty much everything. No one had a clue about where Honerva/Haggar was because honestly, we don't know who she is anymore. Sometimes she's Honerva and sometimes she's Haggar. It depends on the moment. We also had not the slightest idea where Gabrielle's colony was. Space was a big place. They could still be in the Quantum Abyss or they could be in the Milky Way Galaxy for all we know. Worst of all, we had no way to access this information, with all of our satellites and trackers still being repaired from the Galra invasion.

So I left the meeting, feeling worse about life then I had in a while. I'm sure some people might have thought, _but you lost everything already, how can you feel worse?_ Well, here's for a starter. Many of my friends have told me that it would get easier over time. It hasn't. It still hurts as much today as it did two months ago to think my father, my mother, and all of my planet had fallen victim to Zarkon's evilness. It still hurts as much today as it did three years ago to think about how stupid I was to trust Lotor…

There goes that ridiculous chest of mine that still stings whenever I think about _him._

I sigh, pausing on my way to the cafeteria, angry at myself. I've been down this path before. I've immobilized myself from grief before. Why do I constantly put myself in these situations?

I don't want to think about this now.

We've got a party to go to.

Lance's POV

That meeting was useless and that's all I'm saying.

Well, other than I sat and pondered about how much of an idiot I was and how I was a failure the whole time.

It was my fault that we even got in this situation. If I hadn't followed Pidge all that time ago, then we wouldn't have seen Shiro crash, and we wouldn't have found Blue, and the Galra empire wouldn't be attacking a colony they didn't know existed. If I hadn't wanted to try and be cool, even when I knew I wasn't, then I wouldn't have alerted the Galra of our homeplace, and no one would be hurt right now. No one would be mourning lost family members. No one would be dead.

Every day new announcements come of people dying from injuries and sickness and poverty. New announcements that announce the missing status of millions. New announcements that bring more and more shame and guilt onto me. And at some point, it becomes too much, this guilt, until I will snap and no one will hold me because everything was a lie and no one loves me.

Except for Mama and Pop. They always love me, even when I accidentally got their home planet ravaged by an evil warlord.

I can't think about all my shame now. I've got a party thing after this.

So I walked out of the meeting room to see Allura leaning over, holding her chest. I heard little sounds erupt from her that almost sounded like dry crying.

"Allura?" I asked, coming closer. She turned around, frightened, and smiled nervously.

"Hey Lance," she replied in her soft, airy, silky voice.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She replied with a laugh. We started to walk off before Pidge and Hunk joined up.

Pidge scowled laughing. "Lance, you can't just leave us! If it weren't for my spying around here, you wouldn't even know this place existed!"

"Not cool, you guys!" Hunk lectured, tutting his tongue.

I turned and smiled apologetically to Allura. "Our friends are extremely energetic about their findings."

Allura laughed in that quiet, sweet way she always did. "I can bet."

Turn right.

Turn left.

After what seemed like forever, we hit our secret hideout, when we were all panting and gasping for air.

"Food!" Pidge cried happily.

"And well-cooked food!" Hunk followed, running with her to the kitchen where they had hundreds of pies and cakes and ice-cream dishes. Allura and I followed, eyes watering at all the deliciousness and diabetes in front of us.

Alteans are so lucky they don't suffer from eating too much sugar.

Allura held up a blueberry pie. "What is this?" She asked, eyes glistening in curiosity.

I smiled. "It's a blueberry pie," I answered with a laugh.

Allura gazed for a moment at it. "Is it any good?"

"Oh yeah, it's good." Hunk came over and pointed to it. "Now, Lance, I know what you'd say, but I can't say it's the best here. If you're eating only one pie, you _have_ to try this apple-cinnamon one." He started showing Allura all the pies, explaining what each was like, as Allura's face blossomed in awe and she grabbed a slice of each.

Pidge crept over by me at some point and scared the heck out of me.

"So, you finally got her, eh?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

I jumped and tried to shrug Pidge off. "I don't know what you're talking about." I'm sure my face was blushing red at this point.

She walked over and stood in front of me. "Sure… because you totally didn't admit to having a huge crush on her before and you totally didn't ask her on this date."

"Shut up Pidge!" I shushed her, realizing she was talking loud enough that Allura would hear.

"Aww, is this the _one_ girl lover-boy Lance doesn't want his love announced for?" Pidge giggled.

"Pidge!" Hunk called. Pidge looked at me apologetically and smiled evilly before running over to help him explain the amazing ingredients of the cookies and cream ice cream.

Allura's POV

"Wait… so this ice cream is made from the same substance as the milkshake?" I asked. "Then why are they different?"

"Well, the milkshake was made from milk, hence the name, and ice cream mixed together. The ice cream is sugar, cream, and mixed together and put into an ice cream maker, which freezes them and turns them into ice cream." Pidge explained, pulling the milk out from the refrigerator.

"And you have many Kalteneckers here on Earth to make these treats?"

Hunk nodded while shoveling a spoon with chocolate ice cream into his mouth. "Oh yeah, we have entire fields dedicated to raising cows to harvest their milk. There's an entire section in our food group that is based on different forms of milk."

I turned around. "What's a food group?"

I still have so much to learn about humans and that's all I'm saying.

About fifteen dobashes later we were all sitting at the table and laughing while eating sugar-which, I must say, is _fantastic_.

"The day we found the Blue Lion, Lance and Hunk were heading out to find a party when they saw me and chased after me!" Pidge laughed.

"Yeah, those were the good times," Hunk laughed and sighed. "When we didn't have to worry about any space-war or saving an alien race we didn't know existed."

"I miss when all we worried about was whether or not we passed the simulation." Lance tried to put a piece of pie in his mouth but he missed and shoved it on his face.

We started laughing again. Lance, embarrassed, started wiping the saucy goodness off of his face.

The party went on for about half a Varga before Pidge and Hunk had to go, leaving me and Lance alone.

"Goodbye!" I called, watching the door close. I turned around to see Lance staring at me. I tucked a hair behind my ear and smiled.

"Looks like it's just us," Lance said.

Lance's POV

My heart was beating fast. My hands were sweating. I've had crushes before, but nothing like this. After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, I spoke.

"So, uh, sorry about earlier," I said, probably blushing like crazy.

"It's fine," Allura promised.

I scooted closer. "Why were you crying earlier?" I asked gently.

Allura looked at her pie, playing with it and her fork.

"I miss my family," she said finally. "I miss my mother, Melenor, and my father, Alfor, and all my people. I never got to say goodbye to Altea, and next thing I know, it's been 10,000 years and everyone is dead." Her tears started to stream.

"Allura, it's okay," I soothed, walking over to hold her in my arms.

"My family is gone, and I have no place to return to once we stop Honerva. I have no home, no relatives, no kingdom, no anything. And everyone else will return home, so I'll be alone, and no one will want me," she cried, trying to dry her tears with her hands.

"Allura, you're wrong," I spoke after contemplating what to say. "All of us care about you. I don't know about the others, but if I have anything to say, you will always have a home. You can come home with me, and you can join me on Earth, or Arus, or wherever you want to go."

My heart started beating even faster now as I realized what I was going to say. She was looking at me now.

"I don't care if I die to try to prove it to you, but Allura," I said.

"I love you."

Allura looked at me and my words kept falling out.

"I want to be your family. I want to be your security, your home, your love. I will follow you anywhere in the universe, wherever you want to go. I don't even know if you return any sort of feelings for me, but you can come with me wherever because as long as you're happy, I'm happy."

I sat and held my breath waiting for her response.

Allura's POV

My heart is beating faster. I held my breath as I listened to him, not knowing what was going on. I had told him my deepest thoughts, my darkest secrets, and now I listened as he told me.

"I love you," he had said, looking me in the eyes. I couldn't move, I was so paralyzed. This feeling in my stomach, of butterflies and of twirls, of curls and of love, it's keeping me from being able to speak or think, or even breathe.

"I want to be your family. I want to be your security, your home, your love. I will follow you anywhere in the universe, wherever you want to go. I don't even know if you return any sort of feelings for me, but you can come with me wherever because as long as you're happy, I'm happy."

Never before has anyone ever said that to me.

Lance waited for my response, his eyes patient.

"You truly feel that way?" I ask. They were the only words I could muster from my lips.

Lance grabbed my hand and put it on his chest. It was beating fast, just like mine. In fact, I think they were the same rate.

"With all my heart," he whispered, looking in my eyes.

It could have been fate, or it could have been luck, but at that moment, I knew what would happen next.

We both leaned in at this moment and our lips met in love.

Two hours later

Lance's POV

"Wow, Blue hasn't changed much, has she?" I asked, feeling the handles and grinning like an idiot at Allura.

"I don't imagine she's changed much in 10,000 years, Lance," Allura remarked.

We were both sitting in the pilot seat. Well, Allura was sitting and I was standing to be the gentleman.

Tonight was the best night of my life. First, I had a great morning, had some laughs, attended a party, and kissed the girl whom I love. I'm not quite sure what we are at this point, but I'm fine with whatever she wants.

"How you doin' Blue? Did you miss me?" I ask her, running my hand along the side of her controls. Three years it's been since I piloted her, but I remember her clear as day. I remember the first time I piloted her and she _spoke_ in my mind. I remember how she knew what I wanted to do before I knew it. It was glorious, and I'll always have nostalgia for her.

Blue suddenly flashed up an image pointing to a certain point on a map.

"What's this?" Allura asked, clicking a few panels to have an image show up.

"Here, Emperor," A Galra sentry was saying.

Someone wearing a dark cloak reached out and grabbed a goblet.

I turned to Allura. "Haggar,"

"Thank you, sentry," the shaky voice replied. No matter how depleted of emotion and how flat it sounded, we both could recognize it anywhere. "Whenever you can, please find the key to the quintessence supply, as I am depleting of it."

The hood brushed back to reveal a purple-skinned guy with white, flowy, and perfect hair. His yellow eyes gleamed with anticipation. His muscles were rippling as he braced to attack the sentry. His pointed nose and those scheming eyes finished off the look of insanity as Allura turned to me.

"Lotor… he's back," she whispered.

"Let's go get him," I replied, taking her hands and maneuvering them so Blue would get up and start to fly.

"Shouldn't we get backup?" Allura asked, her hands shaking underneath mine.

"If we do, we could lose his location, and that would ruin everything," I answered, eyes focused on the sky. I wasn't going to even try to see what Lotor did to the guard. There was going to be blood everywhere and too much violence for one night.

"Let's get him."

Allura's confident-shaky, but confident-voice stirred me. I gripped her hand tighter for a moment before running off to stop the greatest threat ever known.

 _Someone was watching him._

 _He knew it._

 _He could feel their peering eyes._

 _Yet every time he looked, he saw nothing._

 _He didn't care, however. His mission was to kill the witch. They could watch him as much as they wanted. No one could stop him. Once he stopped his greatest threat and defeated Voltron, then he could exact his revenge and regain control of his rightful empire._

 _But what of Allura? His mind asked._

 _He snarled at his mind, trying to convince himself that he didn't care about her, that she had convicted him of being his father and had betrayed him._

 _But he could still feel that tingle, those treacherous butterflies in his stomach._

 _Maybe she'd take him back…_

 _He couldn't think about that now._

 _He had a witch to kill._


	6. Chapter 6

( _ **A/N MEEEERRRRYYYY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE (or whatever holiday Y'all may celebrate). I know it's early but school got off and I had extra free-time. Anyway enjoy! ;P)**_

She could still feel it. The sting on her lips of betrayal. The sting that had originated from love and passion to turn into betrayal and heartbreak. He had kissed her, and she had kissed him back. It wasn't a long, super-gushy kiss, more like a "this is mutual love here" kind of kiss. She had still felt the emptiness that came after when he let go and smiled.

"I love you," He had murmured as they marched to the door.

She had been holding his hand, fingers entwined, when he said it. That little ray inside of her had been exploding with a new supernova, with a new feeling she hadn't felt before. But when he said that, everything inside of her halted.

 _What did he say?_

And she knew that she wasn't ready, that she wasn't up to that. He had noticed her hesitation to respond but didn't say anything. He let go of her hand and they separated. She had almost considered telling him later that night before the truth came loose.

The truth that revealed him as the liar, the murderer, and the betrayer had her shaken, her foundations on life revolted and replaced. He had convinced her he was good. She had taken so long to believe it, and she had never even suspected afterward that maybe she had been right to distrust him. With every new bit of information that revealed the Galra as an evil race came the hardening of her heart towards them. When the one Galran she knew to be good turned out to be just like his father, the leader of the disgusting race, it shattered whatever hope she had and she closed every door that had anything to do with him. She closed any trust she had for the Galra, any hope she had for them, she closed every opportunity for renewal, and she closed her heart to love.

That gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, soul-crushing betrayal hung high over her head as she looked at the Altean and look at him. She could see the guilt and the shame in his eyes. The Altean was telling the truth. He had truly murdered thousands of her people just for their life force, to satisfy his kingdom and his own greed. So when she gazed back at him, the words "I loved you" flashing in her mind propelled her show him just how badly he hurt her.

Allura's POV:

"He's moving," I whispered to Lance. We both held our bayards ready, my energy whip and his sniper gun. Crouching behind the storage box, we could hear and see everything he did.

"Make contact with my generals," he ordered one of the sentries.

"Let's roll," Lance whispered. When Lotor looked away, we jumped and fell behind the next box forward. I looked around the box as briefly as I could. He had tousled his perfectly straightened hair, leaving it snarled and messed up. The one strand of forward-flexed hair still stood out, almost distracting you from its very-insane owner. His eyes glowed yellow, not just their usual attractive stare, but _glowed_ with the enhanced quintessence in him. He shook with every movement and it seemed to take some work for him to properly breathe, but here he was, live and in person.

"Axca, Zethrid, Ezor, come in." He sounded. The screen in front of him crackled with static.

"Axca. Zethrid. Ezor. This is your emperor. Come in!" Lotor said again, more forcefully.

We dashed behind another box.

"Axca. Zethrid. Ezor. This is Lotor. I expect you to _pick up!_ "

"I think I've got an angle here," Lance whispered, propping up his gun. He leveled it and took aim.

"Final warning. Emperor Lotor will silence your voice _forever_ if you don't pick up!" Lotor repeated.

"Sir, there appears to be no communication here." The sentry reported. "No one had used these communication channels in three years."

I could practically feel the anger radiating off of Lotor, even from this distance. It pulsed through the air, leaving scars of what it had done materialized. I covered my ears and hid my head, fighting to shut out the memories. An angry Lotor had almost killed every reality in every place in every point in time. Killing me would have no effect, but his anger had caused him to lash out and kill innumerable lives.

When Lance shook me back to real life, I opened my eyes to smell the blood. Lance shook his head.

"We missed him, but I got a tracker of the back of his suit where he'd never guess," Lance whispered.

"Which direction?" I asked. I held my bayard ready for the fight.

"This way!" Lance started running. As I followed him, my mind swirled with thoughts. I imagined I was my father, sneaking into a Galra base to spy on Zarkon's evilness. I listed every possibility for what we could find. I went as far as to fathom what we would do with Lotor.

"Lance?" I found myself asking.

He paused running for a moment. "What's wrong, Princess?"

I debated how to say what I was about to say for a moment before asking, "what will we do with Lotor once we find him and subdue him?"

Lance closed his eyes for a moment. "I wish we could say we should end him here and now, but our entire crew needs to see him, and we still have to question him on how he survived… I haven't thought about that."

I stepped closer. "Lance, I've spent countless days being tortured about how badly I failed with him. Every night I was so thankful he was dead it was the only way I would sleep. He would laugh in my face during my dreams and tell me how stupid I was to trust him and to have kissed him…"

I realized at that moment that I had never told anyone that I had kissed Lotor.

Lance just nodded. "I know, Allura. I know how badly he hurt you. I know how wicked and despicable he is, but we need to find him before we think about this any more."

With that, I nodded and kept running, following the little red dot on our screen-tablets that had been remodified from Earth tech by Pidge to help us out.

Lotor's POV

 _They are following us._

"There's no one there!" I shouted at my brain.

 _They are following us._

"Just shut up!" I screamed. That darn quintessence had rattled itself into my brain, feeding me these thoughts and worries I never wanted to face. My face was in this constant insane glare. My eyes twitched when I looked around. I can't tell you the last time it was easy to breathe, but it'll all be worth it. It'll all be worth it when I stick my sword into Haggar's chest and the blood comes roaring out. When I can scream at her dying body, "you killed my mother." And when I find Voltron and destroy them… _all_ of them. That half-Galran leader, the one that stole Allura from me, that girl, the foodie, and Allura most of all… Oh, I can't wait to kill them. To exact my revenge for them betraying me and leaving me in the field. It was as if my father had trained me my whole life for this moment. All those nights I cried myself to sleep in pain from when he hit me or hurt me, every night I fathomed how to end this empire. I will not allow this universe to fall into the Galran hands again. Voltron either… they I wanted to kill for myself. But this universe doesn't deserve 10,000 years more pain and death.

Gosh, my thoughts wonder sometimes.

Lance's POV

"He's in here," I told her. She was shaking again, but she told me to have faith in her, so I will. She had overcome much more than anyone should have to bear. _I_ certainly wouldn't be as cool as Allura if I had gone through this much pain and trauma. But she could, and that was why I loved her.

"Warlord Ezor and Zethrid, do you copy?" Lotor commanded, obviously trying to open a line.

Static answered. It reminded me of the sound the broken Atlas engine made when it exploded all over us. I can still feel that gunk everywhere. On my skin, in my clothes, under my armpits…

Wait.

That's not static.

"No!" Allura whimpered, leaning over. There were two bodies in the command room, both bloody and torn apart. Allura blinked away the tears and gestured towards the next hall.

"They took shots at Lotor… he deflected them and sliced them up," She whispered. "They looked… Altean."

I took one glance at her and dashed towards them, leaning over to see two dead Altean people. One had green hair and purple eyes while the other had blue hair and blue eyes.

Allura ran over and fell on her knees at the sight of them. I put my hand on her back.

"We'll get him," I promised her. "He can't stop us for long,"

She gripped my hand tighter. "He didn't even care that he killed more…"

"And we'll make sure he does." I finished for her. I pulled her to her feet and pointed my bayard towards the tunnel he escaped down. "Let's go get him."

And we ran.

 _Back on Earth…_

"Where's Allura?" Coran asked everyone at the table. Keith, Krolia, Pidge, and Hunk were sitting at the table.

"I notice a certain loverboy Lance is also missing," Hunk added.

"Yeah, I wonder where they are… ARE THOSE PANCAKES?!" Pidge stared at the food being brought from the kitchen.

"And bacon-and-cheese quiches!" Hunk's mouth watered. Keith chuckled and nudged Krolia next to him.

"What are _pancakes?_ And what's a quiche?" Coran asked, watching Pidge and Hunk dig into it.

Allura's POV

"I think I hear him!" Lance whispered to me. I opened my ears to listen for every sound, every bit of movement, anything that could help us.

"I'm going to ask you _one_ more time, Commander Chace. Were is High Priestess Honerva?" When I looked down the hall, I saw Lotor holding a knife to Commander Chace's throat. A little nick in the skin had left a small trail of blood running down his throat.

"I'm telling you, Emperor Lotor, no one has heard or seen from her for a decaphoeb!" Commander Chace cried.

"Duck!" I whispered to Lance as Lotor looked down the hall our way. We barely made it behind the wall on time. He gazed down our path a second longer before tightening his grip on the knife.

"Where was her last known location?" Lotor demanded. His paper-white hair was tainted red with a fleck of blood from Commander Chace's head.

"The last we were informed she was just past the Dark Abyss! She sent a robeast to the Paladins' home planet and told us to contact her if we had any news on your whereabouts! Now please, have mercy!" Chace cried out. I hid my head behind the wall and ignored whatever sound I heard in there.

Suddenly, we had communication coming in.

"Princess Allura? Lance? Where are you?" Keith's voice called. His image popped up on our helmets. He was standing by the Black, Red, Green, and Yellow Lions.

"Keith, can't talk now. Blue traced down Lotor's whereabouts and we're chasing him now," Lance told Keith in a whisper-voice.

"Ask him if Allura's with him!" Coran's voice called in the background. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Is Allura with you?"

"I'm here!" I answered.

"Where are you guys?"

"Currently, no idea. Blue pinpointed us to his ship and we followed her commands here. I put a tracker on Lotor's suit while he wasn't looking and now the ship's traveled so much we can't tell where we are." Lance answered for me. He started tapping a few buttons on his suit. "Sending coordinates now."

"Prepare the ship for hyper-speed!" Lotor's commanding voice called. Chace started clicking buttons furiously.

"Keith, he's moving us now. Trace the trackers on our suits. We may need backup." I told him before lurching when the ship took off.

"Quiznak, we lost connection!" Lance swore. I looked behind me.

Lotor was coming down the hall, one step at a time. He slowly crept over.

"Lance!" I whispered, panicked. "He's coming!"

Lance stole a glance behind me before getting up and running. "Follow me, Allura!"

I tried to get up and follow, but a hand wrapped around my leg and pulled me back. I turned around to see Lotor smiling while holding me and dragging me away.

"LANCE!" I screamed. He turned around and saw Lotor pulling me away.

"ALLURA!" He screamed, scrambling to turn back and save me. I fought against Lotor, kicking and screaming and trying to use my Bayard, but he fought it and threw my bayard across the floor.

"I'll save you!" Lance promised as the door shut behind us and guards appeared to overtake him.

I stared at the door, making one last conversation. "Please hurry."

"I've missed you, Allura," Lotor said while chaining me to the chair.


	7. Chapter 7

( ** _A/N Ahhh here comes my favorite part. Voltron is beautiful I love it so much. Unfortunately, Y'all I may not be posting as much school started up and it's like they've doubled our homework load. And just so you guys know, reviews are completely welcome... oh my you guys are gonna love the last four chapters. PEACE OUT! ;P)_**

She couldn't imagine what he thought could change.

He knew he had done wrong. He knew he had hurt her. He knew he had killed thousands of her people, and he knew how she had hated him for him. A raw, black, thick hate, for that matter. Yet he begged her to repent of her ways and return to him.

Return to the lies.

Return to the betrayal.

And yet when she refused, he turned and tried to murder her.

All that pain, all that suffering, and yet he didn't care. He didn't care that thousands had died. He didn't care about the people he had hurt or the families who would have grieved. He didn't even care that he had _ended lives_ uselessly. His only worry was being found out and exposed to everyone.

She shot her weapon at him, and she told him she hated him. She threw every insult at him she could, but nothing could change his mind. His stupid mind couldn't comprehend a "no thanks, you liar". He still tried to win her back, not knowing how she beat herself up every night on her failures. Not knowing how she dreamt every night that he had fooled her and laughed in her face as he slowly slit the throats of her people. Not knowing how badly he had hurt her.

Time after time after time he had fooled her. She wasn't going to be fooled anymore.

Lance's POV

I waited. Breathe in. Breathe out. Take your time. Let them think you're contained.

The Galra guards put me in here a Varga ago. Maybe two. Quiznak it could have been days ago I lost track of time. They stole my suit and my bayard. They don't know that I could easily pull out my explosive bomb and destroy them in two ticks though. The sentry in front of me looks tense. Actually, I don't know because he's a robot but he's standing on edge.

I can't imagine what Lotor's doing to Allura. I heard her calling for me through the suit before they stole it. The other three Paladins and the Atlas got held up with a distress call with another Robeast on Olkarion. They'd find us "as soon as we can". That could be a while. And I'm already hungry.

"Psst, hey, dude," I whispered to the sentry. He didn't turn.

"Did you hear that?" I continued, looking up. Out of my back pocket, I threw my little ball into the air and down the hall.

The Galra sentry cringed and ran towards it. I waited for the big kaboom but didn't hear anything.

"Where's the big explosion?" I asked. Someone started tut-tut-tutting with their tongue. I looked to the side to see Lotor. All that calmness disappeared at that moment as I screamed at him for everything he had ever done to us.

"YOU!" I screamed. "WHAT'VE YOU DONE WITH ALLURA?!"

Lotor walked over slowly, looking up when he was inches from my cell.

"Allura does not matter. I asked her this question and now I'm asking you. Do you know where the witch is?"

I stared at him in confusion and rage. "If you've already asked Allura then you know my answer. We haven't heard nor seen her whereabouts since before our battle." I answer smoothly, trying to ignore my increased heart rate. Gosh darn it I was so close to escaping.

"And, uh, where would Voltron be? The rest of you, I must emphasize?"

At this moment I knew he was digging for information. It was bad enough when he survived, but now he was out and probably seeking revenge.

"I haven't spoken to Voltron since we left our last-known location," I answer with a non-answer. One thing I learned in school: if you don't have an answer or don't feel like answering, exaggerate and over-explain your non-answer. I passed math class using this.

He suddenly darted forward, his blade suddenly drawn and his eyes alive with rage as he drew his blade across my shoulder-blade. I winced in pain and tried to stop the blood trying to leak out.

"If you don't answer my questions I will hurt Allura. The only reason she is alive now is that I needed to question you. Where is Haggar?"

"I don't know!" I said through clenched teeth. My shoulder stung with pain and I could still feel the sharp edge of the blade cutting through my soft flesh.

Lotor sliced from my bicep to my elbow, a painful but not too deep blow. "I'll ask you one last time. I'm DONE with you all not answering. Where. Is. HAGGAR!"

I tried not to show how bad my pain was. Tried not to let the panic set in. Trying not to let this maniac know exactly how much pain he was delivering.

"We haven't seen her, or heard from her, or even heard _anything_ about her since before our battle," I said mildly, desperately trying to hide my fear.

Lotor stared at me for another second before screaming and running off.

I screamed insults and yelled as he ran down the hall, but I don't think he heard me. His head was twitching and his body was shaking. If I had to guess, quintessence overload was backing away. He fell on the ground and started convulsing, a dry gross vomit that only brought up water. His eyes blinked to turn pure yellow, a bright and neon yellow. Soon they turned pure black, black as ink, leaving me wanting to scream in horror. He sat face-facing me as he shook and trembled. Soon he was lying back on the ground, dry heaving, before getting up and shaking his head as to fight off a bad thought.

"Galra command says you must stay quiet until Emperor Lotor can return to handle you himself." The Galra sentry stepped back and blocked my view as Lotor walked away. I quickly took a mental note of which direction he turned before the sentry started speaking again.

"Hey, you, pay attention!" He barked, but I wasn't listening. When I ignored him a second time he reached inside my cage and hit my head hard with the butt of his gun. From all the pain I was already in, with my various wounds, this was enough to knock me unconscious. The last thing I saw before I passed out was the Galra sentry falling over as a figure in a green suit grabbed up their glowing-green whip.

Allura's POV

"You have no idea what you did to me," I told him coldly as he tied my feet to the chair.

He smiled and reached up to tie my hands. "Oh Allura, I think it's the other way around. _You_ have no idea what you did to _me."_

I laughed in spite of myself. " _Real_ -ly."

He looked up at me. "Do you know what it's like to be blasted across another reality? Do you know what it feels like when power solidifies to the point of pain? Do you know what it's like to barely crawl out of a pit of death all alone to find out four decaphoebes have passed and your empire has fallen apart?"

I stared at him, not hearing, and not caring what he was saying. I was stuck in this double personality state where part of me wanted to scream and curl in a little ball with the thought of Lotor being back while the other wanted to punch and kill the evil beast who hurt me, in front of me.

"Have you ever woken up to discover it's been 10,000 years, your entire family is dead, your people are all slaughtered, and your planet has been blown up?" I challenged him, feeling the pain sting inside as I discussed that grieving moment so precariously.

"Well, were you born to found out your mother is dead, your father is also dead, yet both are alive and evil? And to be abused and hurt your whole life?" He fought back but looked at me questioningly as I cringed.

"What?" He asked.

"You never told me you were abused and hurt," I stammered.

"Well, what did you expect?!" Lotor stood up and stared at me. "I'm the son of the ultimate emperor of the universe and his wife, the witch. Everyone was expecting me to be broken in, but my wicked father expected more, so when I failed or didn't do it up to his standards, he struck me with the sword. 'It's for your own good,' he told me as he cut my skin with his bayard-sword. He would leave me crying in pain to go and steal more lives without care. No one would believe me if I told them, so I kept my pain to myself, telling myself it would be all worth it when I could end my father and he could finally be free from the strain of quintessence."

Lotor stepped back and held up his hand, showing how badly it was shaking.

"That's from quintessence withdrawal."

I felt bile coming up my throat. I didn't know what I felt. I still wanted to zap him with my Bayard, but at the same time I know knew why Lotor had done everything. It wasn't his fault. His father had shaped him into this way. Wait, no. This was all wrong. Lotor betrayed me. He hurt us all. He lied… and there's no excuse.

"I'm sorry," I managed. I didn't know what else to say.

"It's still not his fault. My father, I mean. He died a while ago. Quintessence was controlling his body. If anybody, it's the witch's fault. SHE was the one who died and SHE was the one who told him to enter the field. SHE was the one to kill my mother. And now she tries to hurt _my_ people and _my_ empire…" Lotor clenched his fists in anger. "All I want is to end her. To scream at her dying body, 'you killed my mother.' To see her blood turning into a puddle, if there is any left. And to finally set my parents free." Lotor looked down, his eyes turning angry.

I decided to change the subject. "How did you survive?"

He shrugged. "Last I remember was your eyes staring at me before all that power and quintessence overrode my system and I felt the pain of it slicing into me. I remember the world going dark as you guys disappeared. When I woke up, my version of Voltron was dead. Gone. No life. I can't remember what happened next because the quintessence took over. I wish I didn't have it. All I wanted was to stop this universal abuse, this misrule, to save all I could."

He looked back at me, his eyes conveying a strange emotion that I couldn't name but would never have thought to put to Lotor's name. "I'm sorry I killed those Alteans. I thought… I thought I was saving everyone, and because no one would ever know those Alteans survived… I just wanted to stop all the war."

Where had this sudden change in character come from? I knew him as the wicked and lying beast he was. Was he being… vulnerable? That's not a trait a leader should convey. This has to be a ruse… it can't be real. He was lying. He had to be. Lotor was wicked, despicable, a lying, murderous and bloodthirsty ruler. He's the one who wormed his way into kissing me before I discovered his true inner self. This can't be truthful; he must be lying.

But when he looked at me, his eyes were full of truth, of emotion, of guilt and shame.

I opened my mouth to respond after thinking about my options before Lotor was suddenly on his knees and convulsing. His eyes went cross-eyed and his body was suddenly face-first at me with his arms open wide as he shrieked in pain and started trembling.

I wanted to scream, knowing the quintessence was kicking back in. His eyes returned to a pure-yellow with no pupil state. His body shook and trembled during the transformation, and he looked as if he was being struck by lightning. He screamed in pain, a loud, echoing, haunting scream. When the quintessence had finished taking completely over, he fell over panting, chest heaving, and breathing heavily.

He turned around, eyes glowing with quintessence. He stared at me, eyes calculating, before next I knew, a knife was at my throat.

"Where's Haggar?" He demanded through clenched teeth.

"I don't know," I choked out, trying to avoid the knife cutting into my throat.

He tightened his grip, pushing it harder into my throat. "Where is the witch?!" He demanded again.

I felt tears spring into my eyes. "I don't know!" I repeated.

Lotor lifted one of his hands and tilted my head backward, pushing the knife at my throat even harder than before. "I'll give you one last chance, Princess. Where is Haggar?!"

"I don't know!" I cried. "I swear I don't know. We haven't seen her for four decaphoebes!"

Lotor stared at me with those evil, deadly, calculating eyes before releasing me. My hand tried to fly up to my throat as I gasped for breath.

"I have to find that witch," he snarled. "She's my threat to the throne, the only problem. She killed my mother. She needs to die." He started prancing. I watched with terror in my eyes and he shouted in frustration and ran over by me, running the blade down my naked arm. I could see my suit and my Bayard on the table over there. If only I could reach it…

He suddenly nicked the knife lower, cutting my arm near the crook of my elbow. A trickle of blood ran down. I resisted the temptation to cringe and wince in pain.

"Are you sure, little Allura, that you have no idea where the witch is?" he asked me gently, but his body movements conveyed other emotions.

"I told you already!" I snarled at him, my face alive in disgust. I tried not to share my fear. The sensitivity and vulnerability he revealed earlier were clearly gone. This was the real Lotor. This was his true form, evil, despicable, and in fault of him only.

Or is it his true form..? I can never tell.

He looked at me for another few seconds before smiling. "Say, I wonder if your _friend_ would have a clue," he said before grabbing a gag and placing it in my mouth.

I sat and tried to think logically. What do I do? Usually, I would call for backup, but I couldn't do that clearly. My heartbeat got faster. I could try to do the fancy move Keith does where he summons his Bayard. But I couldn't, I knew. I wasn't that talented. My heartbeat got even faster. Lotor was going to find Lance. Lance. Oh no, Lance. Lotor would probably torture Lance just to get information. Lance couldn't stand that. _I'd_ break under that pressure. My heart was fast now as I tried to keep down the panic.

Wait.

I could summon my Lion to save us.

I opened my mind to Blue's, feeling her wake up within, and tried to call her for help. I could feel her roar and her power as it became one with me. I could feel the trust and loyalty that comes from Paladin and Lion. I imagined all of our family that needs us. Pidge, Hunk, Keith, Coran… I imagined all of the people who need us to free them. Romelle's colony… I almost feel every single living creatures' suffering as I called for my Lion.

And next I knew, my Lion had returned and was with the rest of Voltron.

Lance's POV

Darkness came with a lot of feelings.

Sometimes it was bright and our escape from our world.

Sometimes it was sad and brought terrible thoughts upon us.

Other times we welcomed it to save us from our world and to keep us away from the pain, the hurt, the surely bloody body that was mine.

"Wake up," I could hear someone whispering.

"We have to get out of here."

"He's coming."

But the darkness calling me was so persuasive.

 _Come with us_ , it whispered. _Join us, away from the world._

 _Everything is perfect here._

"Lance!" The name called louder, a hint of urgency. "Come on!"

Which did I want? To stay in this state, half-awake and half-asleep, where no one could touch me and no one could hurt me.

"I've got Allura!" Someone else called. The sound of battling came from behind.

"Lance isn't responding!" The first voice.

I've got to get out of here. There's panic in everyone's voices.

 _But if you leave, you'll have the pain…_

Wait.

Did the second voice say _Allura?_

I forcefully pulled my eyelids apart, slowly rising as I felt the sticky blood under me be pulled apart.

"He's awake!" Pidge said, throwing me my Paladin suit and my Bayard. "Suit up, Lance! Keith's chasing down Lotor, and Hunk's got Allura!"

The name of Allura woke me up. I shoved my suit on as fast as I could and pulled out my Bayard, which had transformed into the gun it usually was. Pidge was tapping her foot impatiently as I quickly hurried.

"Come on! We're supposed to meet back up in one dobosh!"

We ran as fast as we could, us four Paladins. Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and I of course. I knew chasing Lotor was futile. He was probably already a galaxy and a half away. We turned right. Allura looked at me in fear.

"What happened?" She mouthed.

"I'll explain later," I responded. Our feet kept pounding as we fired our jetpacks. A squadron of sentries tried to overtake us, but we took them down pretty easily. Next I knew, we were in our Lions. Well, I was with Allura, because I didn't bring Red at first.

"Voltron to Atlas, we got Lance and the Princess!" Pidge yelled in her communicator. "Any sign of Keith?"

"We got a transmission from him a few seconds ago. Lotor has escaped on a Galra fighter plane. Someone's controlling the cruiser, he also said. Get back here quickly; Keith just called to say he put a tracker on the plane!"

Allura started up Blue, maneuvering her so we'd get off the ship as quickly as we could. Just as all three of us, plus Keith in floating space, jumped off the ship, it started up and went into hyperspace.

I could almost sense her fear through the air.

"We'll find him," I promised. "We'll get him back. He won't hurt anyone again."

Allura turned around, a fearful gaze at first, but changed into a smile. "I know we will. I know where he's going."

" _Honerva, we have located Lotor's whereabouts," Lotor heard a sentry report._

" _Excellent. Set course to overtake him. I'll finally have my son back," Honerva's raspy voice responded. He slowly crept forward, knowing not a one could know of his location. He had been preparing for years for this moment. The moment he would make the witch grovel at his feet. The moment he would slice her open to see if she was as evil inside as outside. The moment he would avenge his mother._

 _As she closed herself in the room, gazing far off into the distance. Sometimes Lotor wondered what she thought about when she wasn't killing off entire civilizations. Maybe she was thinking of her lost husband and son. Or maybe she was thinking about how awful she felt for being so evil. Or she was just evil._

 _And next thing he knew, he had Honerva's throat with his sword pressed hard against it._

" _My son," she choked out. "What are you doing?"_

" _You are no mother of mine, you witch!" He spat. As he was about to make her grovel, he had a sudden idea. A brilliant one, he thought. Maybe, if he could make the witch help, he could kill her and boost a Paladin out of the picture._

 _Maybe he'd even get Allura back._

" _Now listen up, witch." He began to whisper._


	8. Chapter 8

**(A/N Hey guys. Still, haven't recovered from s8. I've spent hours up late at night just thinking about how Allura... no, I won't spoil for you procrastinators (like my friends). Anyway, this fanfic is my only sanity sometimes. I'm planning to write another if I can because I still have a bunch of other fandoms to write fanfics on. Though lemme just say alLURANCE WAS MY OTP OF OtPS OKAY I DO NOT ACCEPT s8 FINALE)**

The devastation tore across the sky as she stared at the mess he made. All this destruction, all this suffering, all this death was caused by him. He was the source of her anger, her rage, her betrayal, and her pain. He used his machine to slice and fight their hero. He was powered by the rage fueled by the quintessence. He was a liar defending himself, and that was all he'd ever be.

He destroyed countless lives to satisfy others. He stole life energy to help others. And he lied every day for countless phoebs to everyone just so he could please his own kind. The evils of him would never cease. And he had the _nerve_ to think she would still love him.

The giant tear in space grew larger and larger by the moment as she stared in horror.

Tears pricked in her eyes because of her failure. It wasn't just one of her most trusted allies made a plot-twist and turned evil; it was that she hadn't foreseen it. Day by day went by and all he did was further prove she could trust him. Night by night went by when she realized her underlying, hidden feelings for him without seeing what he truly was.

Entire realities would be torn apart because of the recklessness of an insane corrupted.

It was all her fault. She had given in to his aura. She hadn't seen past his barricade of lies. She hadn't thought the right thoughts, and now everyday people died because of her failure. She wouldn't lie and say it didn't feel good to leave him dying in the quintessence field. And now she would pay more attention. She would fight back and she would understand. She wouldn't fail again.

She wouldn't fail again… because if she did, then everyone was doomed.

Allura's POV

"It's okay," He promised, squeezing my hand tighter. I lay on his shoulder, my head tucked in the crevice between his shoulder and his neck. One of his arms was wrapped protectively around my waist, the other squeezing my hand.

"He can't get you any longer."

I tightened my grip on his hand as the memories tried to attack. That little beast inside of me was feasting on all the pain, all the memories, all the fear. Each second I spent thinking about _him._ Every thought, every memory, every slice of fear was another serving of food. The beast snarled and was ready to dive into the new batch, where I watched his eyes transform back into evil Lotor and when he tried to slit my throat.

"We'll get him back, don't worry."

Another roar as the beast sliced its evil claws down a new row of memories. It lurked on every memory, pausing to truly take in my pain. The voice of Lotor's maniacal laugh as he almost destroyed Voltron. That spike of fear that was so large it went down into my toes and tingled in pain as formed all his ships into the Sicline. The adrenaline that coursed through my veins as we chased him right into Honerva's lap.

"Everyone is safe from his lies."

And when the monstrous beast found the memory I was trying to bury deep, it squealed in glee and ripped it open. The feeling of betrayal when he came out as truly evil. That feeling of hurt when I discovered all that talk of redemption and salvation for the universe had been a ploy to get me to trust him. When I realized that all that love he told me he felt was a lie, just like everything else. The beast loved it. It tore open all surrounding and connecting memories. That fear when I realized he was an enemy. That anger I felt as he tried to convince me he was a good guy. The devastation when I realized I had failed and put the entire universe at risk.

But I looked up at Lance, who's loving gaze washed over me in his promises of safety and security. I knew Lance would never betray me. I knew he would never lie to me. I knew that if he said "I love you", he meant it.

I turned my head into his shirt and let all the tears fall. I let all that fear, and the shame, and every surrounding emotion connected to Lotor fall out in my tear. Lance wrapped his arms around me as I sobbed. And after a good long cry, I looked up back at him, trusting that truth in his eyes.

"Thank you, Lance," I whispered as tears kept trying to fall.

He reached forward and grabbed both my hands.

"You never have to thank me for anything."

And next, I knew, he had dropped me off back in my room, tucking me in, making sure I was safe. I kept my Bayard near my nightstand, just to stay safe. He squeezed my hand one last time.

"I love you, Allura," he whispered and gently kissed my lips. I loved that feeling in my chest, the one that spread straight from my heart and led the rest everywhere, in my head, in my arms, even down to the tips in my toes.

When he pulled away, my lips protested, begging for more, but I couldn't. It was time to face this fear one last time.

As he walked away, I called out his name.

"Lance?"  
He turned back. "Allura?"

"Thank you," I breathed out and fell asleep.

Lance's POV

I could feel the cut on my shoulder pulsing as I lay down in bed. Today had been a very hectic day, and I was very ready for sleep. Exhaustion waited at the edge of my gaze, ready to take over as sleep as soon as my eyes closed. I slowly placed a pillow underneath my open shoulder wound, trying not to harm it any further. However much I tried, I could still feel Allura's head on my good shoulder, crying as her tears fell out. All I wanted to do was hold her forever and tell her it would all be okay, and we would defeat Lotor once and for all. I wanted to assure her we would never let him do anything harmful again. I wanted to let her truly know she would never be alone because I would be there, keeping her safe forever.

"Lance?" I had heard her ask.

"Allura?" I answered as I turned back around. Her flowing, long white hair was curled around her as she slowly fell asleep.

"Thank you," she had breathed out as she fell asleep. I smiled and walked out the door.

And with that memory fresh in my brain, I fell asleep.

 _The night was cold; I could feel it in my bones. The wind rattled my bones and my teeth chattered together. Even though my Paladin armor, I could feel the cold. Snow gently fell from the sky and landed on the ground. I reached out and caught a snowflake in my hands. I turned to my left, where Allura was standing, her face drawn in wonder at the beauty of the snow. She huddled over to me and stared at it in wonder. She reached over and caught another, comparing the two._

" _They are so similar but so different." She gazed upon it in wonder. "Astounding."_

" _They say no two snowflakes are the same," I responded while lifting her chin to see me. My helmet deactivated around my chin, exposing everything lower than my eyes. "Just like any two people. And did you know they also say opposites attract?"_

 _She looked me in the eyes with love in them. "That must be why we go together so well." I leaned in just as she did. I loved the feeling of our lips meeting; her lips were soft and smooth, a kind of sweetness flavored among them. It was a soft kiss, barely at all, but it was enough for that spark in my chest to burst into full-out flame and explode, spreading in waves through the rest of me._

 _When we let go, I could hear our heartbeats in unison._

" _I love you," I murmured. She opened her mouth to respond but a laugh interrupted and drowned out her reply, and she disappeared._

" _Lance?" Allura's voice called out, echoing in the very edges of my hearing. I turned around, seeing her standing in a field of purple flowers, just like the ones in the simulation from the castle. She was wearing her elegant gown from Altea, and her hair flew in the wind._

" _Allura!" I called back, running towards her. She laughed in that sweet, soft tone she always did and reached out for me. I tried to grab her but as I would've hit her I ran right through her. I turned around, surprised, as she moaned and fell over. I ran forward and tried to catch her, but she disappeared right as she would've landed in my arms._

" _Allura?" I screamed. "Where are you?"_

" _Lance!" Her voice called back, echoing through the mountains in the background. I tried to follow it, seeing her shadow running across the hills, but could never keep up. I tried to jetpack with my Paladin armor over to her, but when I dropped behind the mountain, I felt my heart stop beating._

 _Her broken, battered body lay in a twisted formation. Her head was tilted at a right angle and her arms were bent backward at the elbow. Her blood lay in a pool around her body, a sword of red in her chest. My legs wobbled and collapsed as I lay beside her. Tears streamed down my eyes as I grabbed her cold hand._

" _ALLURA!" I screamed out in agony, lightning flashing behind me. Then this agonizing pain coursed through my head, digging into every part and being as bad as four migraines all at once._

 _A hand covered in purple lightning and evil magic seemed to stand in front of me. The mountains and the field and Allura's body were all gone. A figure in a dark cloak reached forward and tried to strike my head with the evil stuff._

" _Give in!" It commanded. I gripped my head and lie on the floor, grinding my teeth together to keep the pain from making me screech out. I fought it, trying with every fiber of my being to not let it take over._

Suddenly I woke up, panting and my head sweating. I frantically looked around, relieved to see nothing.

"It was just a dream…" I whispered, wiping the sweat off my face and laying back down.

Then I heard a loud BANG!

And suddenly I was tense, in my armor, Bayard in hand, and ready to attack whatever this was. Whoever, or whatever, this was was just around the corner. I brought out my sharpshooter-gun and took a deep breath, ready to zap whoever this was and turned around.

I had barely pulled the trigger when a monstrous headache came back, zapping every reserve of energy I had. I gripped the sides of my head, trying not to scream in pain. An arm wrapped around my throat and threatened to choke me. Or so I thought because when I opened my blurry eyes briefly there was no arm. That old and wrinkly head reached forward for me again in a world of purple-black lightning. I could not feel nor experience the pain here. I ripped open my gun and started firing. The hand disappeared and reappeared with two figures. One with a black hood and the other…

The other was Lotor.

I screamed in rage and started firing, but he dodged and ran towards me. I ducked as he tried to slice me only to be struck by lightning. My back curved as I winced. I tried to fire at Lotor as soon as I could move again, but he was gone. A sword was soon pressed against my throat as his disgusting breath hit my skin.

"This one is perfect," a rough, rasping voice sounded from the cloaked figure; I realized it was Honerva as she whipped back her hood and entered my memories with a lightning strike to my head.

She cried out as she landed on the one where Allura and I were alone in the cafeteria together.

"Allura, I love you." It rewinded in my head as I tried to shut her out, but the migraine was so bad, and the pain was overwhelming. Red and black and purple splotches grew at the rim of my vision as I tried to recoil.

She watched until she got to the part where we first kissed. I could feel Lotor stiffen as he watched. Honerva let go, leaving me to finally breathe and try to think. Next, I knew, Lotor had grabbed my bad shoulder again and turned me around, holding my throat in his hands.

"Did you really do it?!" He screamed at me, his eyes darkening to the point of blackness. "DID YOU REALLY KISS HER?!"

I struggled and tried to rip his hand off my throat. My sharpshooter gun clanged uselessly to the ground. My eyes slowly started to close as oxygen was cut off. I felt dizzy and that longing for darkness returned. Just as I would've passed out, Lotor let go, leaving me sprawled across the ground. I tried to take in all the air I could.

Breathing heavily, I weakly turned around to see him whip his sword at me.

Suddenly very awake, I dodged and ran out of the way, but somehow missing as he ran behind me and slammed his sword through my back.

The excruciating pain made me gasp and scream out. Blood started to ooze from around the wound.

He stood in front of me, eyes watching in amusement as my life poured out in front of me.

"Doesn't feel so good now, does it?" He asked with a laugh.

I weakly reached forward, trying to grab my gun.

"You'll pay for this!" I tried to say through my gritted teeth.

"No," he walked over and touched my chin wickedly. "I won't because you'll be dead."

And he walked off as I tried to scream, but my heart stopped beating and my head was dizzy.

 _Come with us, Lance._

 _Come._

 _It's much nicer here than the pain._

" _Okay," I responded, relieved._

 _And it all left._

I sat straight up in my bed, my pillow gripped in my arms and my head in pain. I suddenly felt around my chest, my back, anywhere that the sword had hit. Nothing.

"I really must get someone to check these nightmares…" I muttered and tried to fall back asleep.

But that was before I heard Allura's scream.

"Coran!" She cried.

And I ran as fast as I could, frantically opening Coran's door to see his body lying on his bed, blood pouring out all around him, and his eyes bleak and unseeing. Allura had collapsed on the floor next to him, holding his hand near her, tears streaming down her cheeks. I stared at his body on the cot, unbelieving of what I saw. There was no way this could be real, but everything else looked real enough… either way, my heart stopped beating as I saw him lying there. I ran over and collapsed next to her, tears threatening to fall down my cheeks as well.

Memories of all the times we had together. Coran had always been the "wise old space-guy", the "space-uncle", and our friend. I knew Coran had always been a second father to poor Allura, her only after Alfor was struck down.

And now he was lying dead in his own cot.

"It was Lotor." Allura suddenly said. I looked over in confusion.

"It was Lotor who did this!" She yelled. "And I'm going to make him pay!"

I rubbed my eyes, trying to comprehend whether or not this was also a dream.

"Allura, you probably just need to sleep." Keith's voice came from the door. Matt stood behind him, along with Pidge and now Hunk.

She ignored him. "He was my second father." She murmured before breaking down into tears. I reached over and held her in my arms, tears falling down my cheeks as well.

"We'll get him," I promised.

I really hope I can keep this promise.

" _Now start cooperating!" Lotor snarled at Honerva. "I will have no problem slitting my own throat to stop your plan!"_

 _And they worked long into the night, preparing the next phase of their plan._


End file.
